The Heart of a Dragon
by RomanticlyXTragic
Summary: Hermione Granger left Hogwarts and started to work with dragons. Charlie Weasley has been working with the same dragons for years. How does Hermione being there change the way Charlie feels about Romania and the dragons he has loves so much?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was a beautiful morning in Romania, Hermione Granger noticed as she stepped out of her tent. She stretched her back hearing all the pops and cracks along with the roar of a dragon.

Everyone thought after school that she would become an auror with Harry and Ron, which would have been nice had she wanted to do it. After dealing with dark wizards throughout her adolescence Hermione decided that dealing with the safety of animals was what she really wanted to do with the rest of her life, not the safety of other human beings.

After school she chopped all her hair off, magically straightened it every day so she could manage it, and started going out in the sun more. Along with her new 'image' name a new nickname.

"Morning Mia." A tall red-head girl waved while walking past.

"Good morning Kiera." Hermione responded with a wave. She looked at her watch noticing there was time for a quick shower before breakfast.

Summoning her shower bag and a towel, Hermione made her way to the stalls. On the very end there was an empty one and she made way for it only to be blocked by a tan red-headed man.

"Oh, morning Char." She said smiling at him with a hand on her hip.

Charlie Weasley smiled and messed up her hair. "Sorry Mia, were you going to use this stall?" He asked. "I thought so," He said when she nodded. "I'll just wait for one to open up." He took a seat under a nearby tree.

Mia entered the stall and showered quickly, drying her hair with her wand and wrapping a towel around herself, she exited noticing that a stall still hadn't opened for Charlie.

He looked up as Mia walked out and she motioned toward the shower and without a word walked away. Taking all her stuff back to her tent she threw the shower bag and towel in the corner after drying herself off and picking out a fitted white tee shirt and jeans. Picking up her wand and straightening her hair, Mia pulled on her boots and walked out of her tent towards the mess hall.

"Mia, come sit with us!" she heard from the left. Making her way over she sat between two of her friends Matt and Julia.

"Hey guys," she said serving herself some eggs and toast. "so what dragons are you guys working on today?"

"I'm working in the hatchery today, I think that grey widowmaker egg is about to hatch." Julia said pulling back her long silky blond hair into a pony tail. Julia was born in Sweden and spent the first few years on the reservation using sun block charms to keep her pale skin from burning.

"I think Charlie asked me to help him with the ridgebacks for the day since Craig got the flu." Matt answered.

Mia's head shot up. "Char asked you to help out too?" Matt nodded.

"Apparently one of the males has been causing a lot of trouble with the others." Matt's family lived in Romania not too far from the reserve so he got to see them for dinners every week. He had jet black hair and a deep tan making his white teeth seem even brighter.

"Well that dragon wants to become the alpha male, kinda like me!" came a voice from behind Mia and Julia. Turning around they saw another trainer named Jake.

Jake was born and raised in Cambridge, England and had finished Hogwarts in Mia's second year. He had been the most popular in his year and thought that carried out into his carrer.

"Well that's too bad for this poor guy because the true alpha male keeps beating him down." Charlie said calmly as he sat down next to Matt with a slight grin. Running a hand over his hair to artfully mess it up in a way that all the girls on the reserve loved, Charlie continued. "So sorry Jake but it looks like the only way you'll get to be an alpha male is in your dreams."

Jake scowled as he turned and walked out of the mess tent, the four started laughing. "That was brilliant Char." Julia said spearing her potatoes with a fork.

"I try." He said picking up a piece of toast. "If you two are ready," he said to Mia and Matt "we should probably get going to get these ridgebacks under control. They're making the neighboring pens go chaotic as well."

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

Charlie Weasley was woken up by the roar of a nearby dragon pen at the crack of dawn. Smiling sleepily to himself he turned to lay on his back the necklace his father had given him as a boy repositioning to his shoulder with the movement. That necklace was practically the reason he had become a dragon trainer in the first place. It was a baby dragon claw on a silver chain, and he still remembered the day his father had brought him to the shed and placed it around his neck for the first time.

Sitting up and yawning he threw the covers off of his body. With a slight shiver he placed his feet on the cool carpeting of the tent, even though Romania was a relatively warm place it cooled down at night. He pulled out a plain cotton tee-shirt and a pair of thick pants from his dresser then sat in his desk chair pulling the shirt over his head.

There were only a few things on the desk and Charlie liked it that way. A picture of his family (Hermione and Harry included) taken after the defeat of Voldemort, a picture of the quidditch team his seventh year at Hogwarts, a few pictures of dragons he had helped raise and train, a pile of papers for people to train, and a manila folder with his assignment for the day. Looking at the quidditch picture he noticed Dumbledore enter and stop just behind the team, the man's watery blue eyes moved to seem like he was staring at the picture of his family (which had just shown the twins wrap their arms around Hermione and mess up her hair) and with a smile he strolled out of the frame again.

_Well that was weird._ Charlie thought rubbing his eyes. Moving the direction of his brain to work, he opened the manila folder. A picture of a Norwegian Ridgeback spitting fire scared him for a split second before realizing the picture couldn't hurt him. Chuckling he read through his instructions and who was his team for the day, noticing that everyone on his team had been with the reserve for three years or more since the ridgebacks were harder to handle than other species especially when fighting for their territory.

The sun started shining through the gap in the tent flaps and Charlie stood and grabbed his shower stuff pulling his pants on before exiting. The showers weren't far from his tent but in the time it took Charlie to walk there all the stalls were filled except one. That is, until Hermione walked up and caught his eye. Charlie quickly walked up and blocked her way into the stall.

"Oh, morning Char." She said smiling at him.

Charlie smiled at her, "Sorry Mia, were you going to use this stall?" he messed up her hair in a playful manner. "I thought so," He said when she nodded. "I'll just wait for one to open up." He took a seat under a nearby tree.

Sitting down Charlie thought about earlier when Dumbledore had looked at young Hermione in the picture. _Impossible._ He thought, _It couldn't have been her he wanted me to see, Ginny had also just jumped on Bill's back and I'm pretty sure Harry and Ron had been making faces behind Percy._

After thinking for awhile Hermione finally left the shower stall, her short hair curling with the humidity of the morning she waved and walked off toward her tent. Jumping at the opportunity Charlie got in the shower and scrubbed his freckled skin clean, he only took a few moments before drying himself off and redressing before walking back to his tent and disposing of the towel.

Taking the walk to the mess tent slow, Charlie shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his work pants and took a look around at the landscape. Romania had tons of mountainous regions and the reservation was in the middle of a lesser known one. The sun was peeking out from behind one of the taller mountains and the man sighed. This is why he had chosen to be here, it was beautiful.

_Speaking of beautiful._ He thought to himself thinking back to the pictures on his desk. _NO! I can't think of her like that, she's my co-worker and more importantly my little brothers best friend!_ Not even realizing he had walked right to the front of the mess tent, Char shook the thoughts out of his head and walked in with the resolution that today he wouldn't let Dumbledore influence his decisions from beyond the grave.

Because Dumbledore never got what he wanted anyway.

**AN: So, how was it? I honestly completely forgot about this story since I had gone away to college but looking through my computer I found it and decided to work on it. Now, it's time to pick up my other stories!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

After the group got to the horntail part of the reserve Charlie became the boss.

"Don't throw random spells out that you think might help the dragons because if they deflect it then it can ricochet onto one of the other team members. Use your wand to create ropes and work with that if we have to, and if you get into danger shoot red sparks up that way we know where you are." He looked at the ten people he had with him, including Mia and Matt.

The group set off into the pen and broke off into the groups of two they had already established. Mia and Matt had chosen to work with each other and made their way off to the left trying to find the smaller of the horntails and patch up the wounds it had from fighting.

"So Mia, why do you think Jake is so condescending to the rest of us?" Matt asked curiously as they walked through the underbrush.

Mia laughed; they had all been trying to figure that out since they met Jake. "Sometimes I think that maybe people feared him in school and that it should work that way out in the real world as well, other times I think he's just overcompensating." Matt started laughing more shaking his head.

"You're too funny," He said finally catching his breath. "Wait is that the horntail we're looking for?" He pointed up ahead and smiled. "Yeah it is, look at the gash along its right side." Walking slowly towards the dragon, Hermione noticed that another pair had found the beast and was trying to sneak up on it.

Finally getting close enough the four trainers shot thick ropes out of their wands and tried to keep the dragon from thrashing about, unfortunately it didn't work as well as they thought it would. The angry animal was now tossing its head from side to side as well as its dangerous tail. Stomping its legs the trainers kept trying to tie it down. One of the boys in the other group had been given a sedative in his wand to use on the dragon had he been able to get close enough. Jabbing his wand in the giant's leg it stopped whipping its body parts around and collapsed onto the earth giving the trainers at least half an hour to clean and treat the wounds.

However, half way through getting the skin to grow back over the cuts they all heard a low grumble coming from the dragon.

"What was that?" The guy who injected the sedative asked. The other three shook their heads.

Hermione had been busy trying to fix part of the tail when all of the sudden it came at her and with full force she was thrown back hitting a tree. "Mia!" Matt yelled running towards her. The other pair had backed off as well knowing it wasn't safe. "Wake up, please wake up me." Matt said pulling her off the ground and carrying her back to the gate where they had walked in. Putting his wand in the air he shot red sparks into the sky and knew that Charlie would be there in a few moments.

As it turned out the other team had finished their job and were making their way back to the gate when the sparks became visible. Everyone started running towards them and stopped when they got there.

"What happened?" One woman asked running up to see the broken and bleeding Hermione.

"The sedative wore off sooner than we expected, she was fixing up its tail and it just hit her! She crashed into a tree and hasn't moved since." Matt recanted visibly upset.

"Did you use all the sedative?" Charlie asked making his way towards the girl he had known for so long. The boy turned his wand upside down and everyone watched as silver liquid came pouring out. "Damn it James you didn't hold your wand in for long enough!" Char yelled. "How many times did we explain it to you? You hold it there for ten seconds!"

Charlie took Hermione in his arms and exited the gate; everyone filed out and locked the metal doors as he ran to the medical tent. "I need a healer!" He announced loudly walking into the tent. Two girls walked over as he set his friend on the table.

"What happened?" One of them asked running her wand along Hermione's body.

"She was hit by a dragon's tail and went flying into a tree." He stood back letting the girls get to work, they had seen this multiple times, as had he, but it was so different when it was someone you considered your family for so long.

"I'm sorry Charlie but you're going to have to leave. We'll send a note to you when you can come see her again." He nodded and left walking towards the food tent.

As soon as he set foot in the tent his entire team bombarded him with questions.

"How is she?", "Will she be alright?", "When can we see her?" Charlie put his hand up.

"The healers are working on her now, they didn't tell me much except that they would send for me when she's alright enough to have visitors." Charlie scanned the group; everyone looked worried except for James who looked ashamed. There had only been one person who didn't ask questions and Char went to sit with him. "She's going to be fine Matt." He reassured his friend.

"I could have told her I would take care of the tail. I could have saved her from this." He whispered.

"Unless you were the one with the sedative there was really nothing you could have done. If you were fixing the tail then it would be you in the healer's tent and Hermione sitting here saying the same exact thing."

Charlie stood and went to get two cups of coffee and a piece of pie for himself. Except for his group, there were only a few other people sitting at the tables oblivious to what was going on.

Returning to Matt Charlie set down the coffee in front of him and started eating his pie.

This was going to be a long day.

**A/N: Sorry it's such a short chapter but I want what happens after this in a new chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Everyone had started to get restless. It had been hours since the accident and no one had come to update them on Hermione's condition. Charlie was the worst out of everyone. He paced around the tent, he opened the flaps to make sure no one was walking towards them; he even went over to the Healer's tent a few times before they asked him to stay away.

All the other groups that had gone out to different parts of the reserve had come back and eaten lunch before scurrying off to do their paper work or relax. When Julia had arrived on her lunch break from the hatchery she had started to cry, Mia was one of her best friends at the reserve there was no way she could die from someone else's stupidity! But Matt assured her that their friend would be alright, something Charlie knew he was trying to convince himself of as well.

"Alright guys, why don't you all go to bed." Charlie announced around midnight. "We've all been up for almost twenty hours and need some sleep. I'll make sure that when I hear something about Mia, you all get the news too." The group started filtering out of the mess tent one by one only because they trusted Charlie Weasley with their life, how he handled everything earlier had proven why.

And with a pot of coffee on the table with him Charlie waited. He wouldn't leave until he heard something about his long-time friend.

"Charlie, wake up. Mia's awake and wants to see you." Charlie's head jerked up from the table where he had fallen asleep.

"She's awake?" The nurse nodded. "And I can see her?" Again, the nurse nodded. That was all Charlie needed to stand up and bolt out of the tent. It was dawn and he had paperwork to fill out from the previous day but none of that stopped Charlie.

"Hey, Mia." He said softly at her bedside. "You feeling better?"

"Not really," She said with a slight laugh. "I feel like I got hit by a dragon's tail." The pair laughed for a moment. "You look tired, have you gotten any sleep?"

"No, we were all waiting to see what would happen with you, I fell asleep in the mess tent waiting." He laughed again but stopped when he noticed Hermione's worried look. "Oh stop it; we were all worried about you. I've known you for years Hermione so don't tell me this isn't anything my doofus brother would have done for you."

She smiled a little bit, but then it turned to a grimace. "I just feel horrible. I put you all in a lot of danger!"

Charlie sat on the edge of her bed and took her tiny hand in his own noticing how soft and warm it was. "It was something the reserve has been prepared for since it opened, that's why we have protocols and drills and seminars we have to attend. You aren't the first person this has happened to and you certainly won't be the last. But you're not seriously injured, which is a plus." Charlie smiled at the girl trying to get her to feel better about everything. "I think it would be good if you worked in the hatchery for awhile, that way if the concussion did anything serious to you it's not like you're in harm's way to figure it out." She nodded, knowing that it was for the best. "Don't think that you can't come back to my team, Mia. You can, it's just going to take a little while longer before it happens."

Standing up Charlie kissed the top of her head and told her to get some rest, but as he was walking out of the tent he was stopped by Mia's voice.

"Charlie," She said making him stop at the entrance of the medical tent and turn around. "Thank you." Attempting a small smile Hermione curled up in the bed and closed her eyes.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

It was dawn and Charlie had barely slept. Walking around the tents with hands shoved in his pockets Charlie realized something: today had been one of the first times he was truly scared since he had started the job at the reservation.

"Weasley," Turning around Charlie saw the head trainer walking towards him. "I heard about Granger, how is she?"

"Roughed up a bit, but you know how Hermione is sir, she's trying to let people think she's fine." Running a hand through his hair Charlie sighed.

"You need a few days off, Weasley. You've gone almost non-stop since you got here." The man patted Charlie on the shoulder. "Go visit one of your brothers or your parents, and enjoy it."

After the man walked away Charlie set off for his tent passing by a few early risers on the way. He needed a shower but first he was going to take up Mr. Linlod's offer and take a vacation.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

"I just came from seeing Mia," Julia said sitting across from Matt and Charlie. "Apparently she's getting out of there today."

"Today?" Matt sounded worried. "Shouldn't she stay in at least two more, I mean that dragon really hit her hard. I can't imagine she's well enough to go back out into the field already."

Charlie finished his coffee in one gulp. "She's going to be working in the hatchery for awhile until she's back to one-hundred percent. We can't afford any more injuries." He stood. "Tell the team to meet outside the same enclosure; we have to get that dragon sedated today." And with that he left the mess hall.

"Mr. Weasley, Hermione is with Mr. Linlod right now." The healer on duty informed him as Charlie walked in.

"Not anymore Maryanne, I'm finished." The healer smiled and nodded. "Have you thought about what I said, Weasley?" Charlie nodded. "So what days do you want off?"

"I'll finish with the horntail today and then leave for a week." The head trainer nodded and exited the tent.

"Hey Mia," Charlie said walking over to sit with her. "Still feeling like you got hit by the Hogwarts Express?" The pair laughed. "You seem like you're feeling better."

Hermione was in the middle of eating her breakfast when her visitors had come in; and though she wouldn't eat with her head boss in the room but had no problem eating in front of Charlie. "Linlod just told me I was being transferred to the hatchery indefinitely. I guess I'm just excited to work with the baby dragons for a little while."

"That's good," Charlie stole a bite of her toast. "I heard you're starting today."

"If the healers approve me to leave, they're still a little iffy about me walking around with dragon eggs." Rolling her eyes made Charlie laugh, it always had.

Charlie sat there in silence for a little while letting Hermione eat. "I'm going to visit Bill for a week." He said picking at his jeans; he didn't want to see the shocked look on the girls face. Linlod said I should take a few days off, which makes sense to me." Looking up he saw a confused look on Hermione's face. "You're like family to me, and you getting hurt really scared me, it scared all of us. He just thinks it would be good if I wound down a little bit."

"When are you leaving?" Her voice was quiet, almost sad.

"After the team finishes with the horntail, tomorrow at the earliest." Charlie went back to not looking at her, she was upset he was leaving while she was hurt but wouldn't say or show it, it made him feel ashamed.

"Hey Char, the team's waiting for you." Matt poked his head in, waving at Mia.

"Good luck," She yelled to the boys as they left. Julia took they're place as she skipped over towards the bed and jumped up next to her friend.

"Why so glum?" Julia looked worried.

"No reason, just still in some pain." The blond cocked an eyebrow in a I-don't-believe-you sort of way. "I guess you heard the boys are finally getting that dragon help," Hermione nodded. "Matt told me that Charlie's leaving after this assignment as well."

Nodding again, Hermione took a sip of tea. "He just told me the same; he's going to visit his brother in Egypt." The girls sat for awhile joking around before Hermione got a crazy idea. "Julia, where's the closest place I can get a tattoo?"

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

"Ok team, today we're finishing this up. No mistakes this time, don't be careless. We don't want another person hurt." Charlie barked out the orders before opening the enclosure for the team. "Same groups as last time, let's go."

Hermione was replaced by a boy named Leo who had been at the reserve for four years. "Hey Matt, have you ever wondered why Charlie always asks Mia to join his team?"

"It's because Mia is like family to him and he would never forgive himself if something happened to her under another trainer's watch." Matt shook his head. "He's beating himself up enough for letting it happen under his own."

"Did you ever think that it's because they're in love?"

**A/N: With Charlie leaving for a week and Hermione still on the mend do you think it's going to be a rough week for the both of them? I guess we'll find out **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Julia sat there in shock. "I'm sorry Mia, did you say you wanted to go get a tattoo?" The brunette nodded. "Of what exactly?"

"What do you think Jules? A dragon of course." It had seemed so obvious to Hermione that she had wanted a tattoo, and even though she had been almost killed the day before she wanted one of her beloved creatures inked into her skin.

"Have you thought about what kind of dragon? Where you want the tattoo? Colors? Size?" Hermione had expected Julia to try and talk her out of this, but it was something she wanted.

"Chinese fireball, red and black obviously, I'm thinking down my side." Jules shook her head. "Please Jules, I really want this and I think I'm going to need you there to hold my hand."

"Hold your hand for what?" Matt had taken that time to enter her area looking as dirty as ever.

Jules smiled sweetly to him. "Mia wants a tattoo."

"No way, of what?" The blonde smacked his arm. "I mean, have you thought about this?"

Hermione nodded her head. If one more person tried talking her out of this she was going to scream. "Where's Charlie?"

A swift change of subject left her friends with nearly no memory of their previous conversation.

"He went to write a letter before he left." The hurt look in Hermione's eyes was something the pair had never seen before. "I can go see if I can catch him before he leaves, I'm sure he would want to say good bye to you of all people."

"No," Hermione shook her head. "He doesn't need to know about my plan anyway."

The healer walked over to the group with a chart and a smile. "Miss Granger, you're ready to be released. If you could just sign these papers and take one last potion for us."

"Matt you have no idea how much that hurts right now," Mia's sharp intake of breath wasn't something that stopped him.

"Oh, sorry." The boy ran a hand through his jet black hair sheepishly.

It had been three days since Charlie left for Egypt and two days since Hermione got the tattoo. Her winning argument was that she wouldn't be working with fully grown dragons for awhile, so the tattoo could heal while she was making sure the eggs were warm enough and the babies were fed.

"Really Jules, I don't regret it even if it hurts like a blast-ended skrewt." The girls had been walking out of the hatchery towards the mess hall and Hermione was wearing a white tank top. Her tattoo was visable and now everyone wanted to see it, for most of the day she was lifting her shirt up to either show someone her new work or to have Jules put the cream on it for her.

"I wonder what Charlie's going to say about it when he comes back." The blonde would mutter indignantly.

"I wonder if he's having a good time."

"Bill it was absolutely the worst moment of my career. I mean what would mum say if I told her that Hermione got hurt under my watch? She would kill me!"

Bill's flat in Egypt was small, but nice. He didn't need much space because it was just him, but when Charlie came to visit it was like being back at the Burrow.

"But you said she's fine now." The eldest Weasley had only seemed worried when Charlie mentioned the dragon incident, but hearing more about it he became more aware of why his brother was freaking out. "I bet you'll go back and she'll be just like the Hermione we watched grow up, fiery and stubborn. I'll bet she's back working with the full sized dragons by the time you leave here."

Charlie shook his head. "There's no way they would let her go back in just a week. She was hit really hard Bill. The healers said they had to get pressure taken off her brain and there was a crack in her skull. Her spine was broken!"

Sighing, Bill shook his head. There really was no denying it anymore. "Charlie, just admit that you care for her and stop worrying so much."

Shock was written all over Charlie's face as he listened to his only older brother. _Admit that you care for her…_ "Yeah, I care for her we all do! She's a part of the family."

"And that's why you keep stopping yourself!" Bill had a unique ability for knowing how people were really feeling. "She's Ron's best friend and she's been a part of the family for so long that you think it would be weird to actually have more than platonic feeling for her!"

"Well, don't you?" There was almost sadness in Charlie's voice as he spoke. He realized now that he had been dumb and that he had been holding himself back because of his baby brother.

"No, I don't. Besides Ron's with Parvati now and we all know that crushed mum's dreams of having Hermione become a full-fledged Weasley." Bill drank the rest of his beer down. "I think the entire family would be ecstatic if you actually made a move and finally showed her how you felt."

There was silence for only a few moments as Charlie thought the advice over. "But how do you know that she's even interested in me? And how did you know that I was interested in her?"

"The last few Christmas' when we're all together, haven't you noticed that you two always sit next to each other at meals and while we open gifts. She's always right there with you." Bill shook his head, sometimes his brother was just plain oblivious. "I noticed right away her seventh year when you came home and she started asking you about the dragon reserve, you realize she took your offer to see it right then. She's didn't hesitate one bit to come to a different country and come see you."

"But, then why hasn't she said anything to me?" Charlie's voice and almost panicky now.

"Hermione's a traditionalist, she always waits for the guy to make the first move and sometimes that leaves her a little sad because it might have ended up, had you not come to see me that this would have gone on for a much longer time than it already has."

Fidgeting in his chair Charlie smirked, "And what makes you think that this has been going on for a long time?"

"Didn't I just tell you I noticed it her seventh year of Hogwarts? Since she was seventeen!" The color started draining from Charlie's face. "She's twenty-two now, it's been five years that she's been in love with you!"

"Wait, how do you know she loves me?"

"BECAUSE IF SHE WASN'T SHE WOULD HAVE LEFT ROMANIA YEARS AGO!"

Jumping at the volume of Bill's voice Charlie realized finally, how much of an idiot was had been.

"I need to get back there." Without another word Charlie ran through the small flat and packed his bag, throwing the strong arms around his brother he activated the portkey and was taken back to Romania.

He was back in his tent. Throwing everything on his bed except his wand Charlie ran out in search of Hermioine. First he checked her tent but she wasn't there, then the mess hall where everyone was gathered for dinner. Matt and Julia spotted him and waved him over.

"Where's Mia?" He asked quickly.

"I think she's still in the hatchery, is something wrong?"

Smiling Charlie clapped Matt on the back. "Not anymore." Running out Matt smiled.

"What was that all about?" Julia asked, worried.

"He's finally figured it out."

"Figured what out?"

Hermione was watching the baby Chinese fireball that was her muse for the tattoo, fly around above her. The serene moment was something Hermione loved about working in the hatchery, something she never would have experience if she hadn't been hit with the dragon's tail.

Suddenly hurried footsteps were heard outside the tent and in an attempt to stop short whoever it was outside, fell.

"Shit, that hurt."

Hermione eased the grip on her wand as the baby fireball balanced himself on her shoulder. "Charlie?"

The flap opened revealing the stocky red-head with dirt all down his back and arms. "Hi."

"Hi." She replied. "I thought you were visiting Bill?"

"I was, and then I realized something I should have a long time ago." In that moment blue eyes met brown and they both smiled, forgetting the pain in her side and the dragon on her shoulder Hermione let Charlie pick her up and kiss her with the most passion she had ever felt.

It wasn't until he set her back on her own feet that she winced at the pain. "Did I hurt you?" Charlie asked worriedly. "Here let me take a look."

Hermione lifted up the side of her shirt for Charlie who sat hunched on the ground, stunned. The tattoo he saw was beautiful, but what really caught his eye was the single baby dragon claw dangling around a silver chain on the dragon's neck.

**A/N: I'm sad to say this is the last official chapter. (Crying, sobs, wails of lovely readers) However, there **_**will **_**be an epilogue**__**that I am already started on and hopefully will be posted not long after this! Thanks for all the great memories and reviews from you all, I truly hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did.**


	5. Chapter 5: Epilogue

**Chapter 5: Epilogue**

"Charlie, it's time to wake up." Hermione said groggily as she walked into their bedroom. "Seriously we have work in an hour, I'm making French toast for breakfast and I swear I'll eat it all myself if you don't get your lazy butt out of bed." Taking a pillow from her side of the bed she playfully hit Charlie in the head with it.

"Alright woman, I'm getting up. I'll be down in a moment."

They had decided it was a good idea to move out of the tents and into one of the couples houses on the reserve not long after they got married. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been thrilled at the "sudden" interest they had in each other, but neither was complaining.

Their wedding was simple, just close family and friends, of course half the dragon tamers had climbed a hill and watched as two of their own kissed and became husband and wife, the deafening wolf whistles and yelps from their friends had scared the invited guests. Ginny stood up at the makeshift altar with Hermione as Bill stood with Charlie on the other side, the ceremony was short and sweet and beautiful as it was out by a lake the couple had found behind the reserve. Hermione's dress was modern and made her figure stick out more than it already did, a white lily tucked behind her ear as it held some of her hair back. Of course the dress didn't cover up the top of her tattoo and when Mrs. Weasley saw it there was no stopping the woman. Charlie was dressed in black pants, a white dress shirt, and a silver tie another white lily sticking out of his chest pocket. The pair had exchanged simple silver wedding bands, anything shiny on Hermione's hand would have attracted the dragons and although Charlie had purchased a diamond engagement ring they agreed that she would wear it only when they weren't at the reserve.

Mrs. Weasley had made it painfully clear that she was waiting on borrowed time for grandbabies and that they better give them to her as soon as they could. After the wedding she would constantly write letters asking when she would get her first grandchild and finally the letters subsided when Ron announced he and Parvati were engaged to be married. Without the constant influx of letters, the newest Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had time to actually try to make a baby for themselves.

Charlie finally made his way down into the kitchen a few moments later fully dressed and waiting on the first batch of French toast. "So how did you sleep?" He asked taking a bite of the chocolate chip and syrupy goodness. "My wife makes the greatest French toast ever!"

Hermione laughed and sat down with a plate of breakfast for herself. "I slept alright, not as good as I used to mind you."

"Don't make this my fault; you're the one who instigated it." The couple laughed and finished their breakfast. "Have I told you how good you look in my shirt Mrs. Weasley?"

Charlie had wrapped his arms around his wife's middle having to stretch them just to meet on the other side. "I believe you have, and get used to it cause it's mine for the next two months."

"I think I can live with that." Kissing his wife's cheek he waited for her to get dressed in her work clothes before they left their house and walked towards the reserve.

"Wow Mia, you're really getting big." Jules ran over to rub the ever growing midsection of her friend glowing with happiness as she felt the baby kick.

"Extraordinary, isn't it?" Charlie asked giving Hermione a kiss before saying good bye and leaving the girls in the hatchery.

Jules pulled out a stool for her friend. "So when are you officially going on maternity leave?"

"I'm not due for another two months, but Linlod wants me to take off starting next month so I'm not walking around as much during the last month of this pregnancy." Rubbing her belly and feeling her child roll around inside of her made Hermione smile brightly. "I can imagine why though, my back is already starting to kill me."

"Mrs. Weasley, here are you morning potions." The youngest healer, who had only been hired a year before walked timidly into the hatchery.

"Thanks Lisa."

"Can I ask you something, Mrs. Weasley?"

Hermione gulped down the first potion. "Call me Mia,"

"Mia, I was just wondering why they let you on the reserve if you're pregnant at all. I mean what if a dragon escapes it's pen or a baby spits fire at you? Aren't you worried?"

The girl was scared to ask the question and shied away when Julia chuckled softly. "Lisa, it's not that I'm not worried. When you're pregnant, all you think about is your baby. But I know that if something happened I would be taken care of by the healing staff we have here, not to mention everyone else. I'm not the first woman to be pregnant and still working here, I'm sure I won't be the last."

"But you might be the next," Jules joked causing the friends to start laughing. Lisa backed out of the tent. "Seriously, are you going to have any more kids, have you thought about it?"

"I'd like to have more, and I know Charlie would be ecstatic if we had more. But I don't want seven like his mother had."

Again the girls laughed.

"And what about your tattoo, is it stretching?"

Hermione nodded. "But the great thing about wizard tattoos is that the ink makes the tattoo whole again with no stretch marks, so when I actually have the baby and get back to work on losing the weight I've gained it'll go right back to normal."

The day went on like that, just like every other day for Hermione and Jules. As for Charlie, everyone wanted to know if he was excited to be a dad and when they should light the cigars.

"Boy or girl?" One of the newer men on his team asked.

"Are you kidding? He's a Weasley, of course it's a boy!"

The dragon tamers laughed as Charlie shrugged.

By dinner time Hermione was worn out and tired which always made Charlie laugh.

"I'm creating life," She would say. "From scratch!" The first time she said that Charlie had fallen off the bench with laughter catching the attention of everyone around them.

"How was your day, love?" Mia asked pulling her husband over for a kiss.

"It was alright, I have some paperwork I have to do when we get home but then we can snuggle up and read a book if you'd like?"

Charlie always knew what Hermione liked, he always had. "That would be nice." She smiled and tucked into her dinner.

A few hours later, the couple was laying in bed, Hermione's head resting on her husband's shoulder and a book in front of both of them. Yawning the brunette marked her page and set it aside for the next night then continued to cuddle with Charlie's muscular chest.

"I love you Charlie Weasley,"

"And I love you Hermione Weasley."

**A/N: Sniff, sniff, sob! It's over! I hope you all truly liked it!**


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